


Never Too Old

by LeFay_Strent



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Fluffy, Gen, mall au anyone?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 20:12:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17351837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeFay_Strent/pseuds/LeFay_Strent
Summary: Patton worked as a manager at a toy store in the mall. Lately, the employees were noticing a reoccurring customer. Well, if you could call him a customer. He never actually bought anything.





	Never Too Old

Patton worked as a manager at a toy store in the mall. It was neither a glamorous nor the best paying job, but every day he came to work with a genuine smile on his face. Children came in by the dozens wearing wonderstruck expressions. They’d flit from aisle to aisle, and sometimes their parents would tiredly trail after them, but other times their parents would revel in their excitement. Sometimes adults would wander in on their own looking for gifts, and Patton was all too happy to help them find the right one.

Lately, the employees were noticing a reoccurring customer. Well, if you could call him a customer. He never actually bought anything.

“He’s over by the stuffed animals again,” Talyn told Patton as he sauntered by the registers. “He’s already scared off one kid.”

Patton stopped and blinked. “You mean…?”

“Yeah,” they nodded with a concerned frown. “I’d be the last person to complain about someone’s fashion choices, but you know some of these parents. Plus, it is kind of weird that he never buys anything.”

“Let me try talking to him,” Patton offered, already walking away. Behind him, he could hear Talyn making bets with their other coworker Joan over whether the mystery man would run away again. The guy had apparently been spooked the other couple of times one of the employees approached him, but Patton wanted to take a crack at it himself.

The stuffed animal displays were located near the store’s entrance. Patton quickly found the dark figure in question standing in an aisle staring down at a line of black cat plushies. With his tall stature, dark clothes, and heavy eyeshadow, he did cut a rather intimidating figure. Patton had seen him in passing a few other times and knew he worked at the game store in the mall. He didn’t seem too weird, maybe just a bit lost.

Patton didn’t say anything when he approached. Hands in his pockets, he ambled by the man to stand beside him. He startled briefly, glancing up, but Patton didn’t look his way, choosing to survey the rows of plushies.

“I think they’re like potato chips,” Patton said conversationally. The other stayed frozen where he was. Patton waited patiently.

“. . . potato chips?” a low voice questioned, sounding rough from disuse.

The corner of Patton’s mouth tilted up but he suppressed the urge to smile. “Yeah, potato chips. Stuffed animals are like potato chips.”

“Do they not feed you guys here? Have you resorted to eating the merchandise?”

Patton chuckled, “Yeah, you should try the teddies. They’re _bear-y_ good.”

He snorted, then quickly slapped a hand over his mouth out of embarrassment. His eyes were too wide, and for a moment Patton thought he’d excuse himself and bolt for the exit.

Time to think on his feet.

“I’d stay away from the dogs though. They go down a little _ruff_.”

“ _Pfft_.” The man turned his face away, shoulders shaking up and down.

“Birds are pretty good though. You know why, right?”

“And why would that be?” he asked, playing along.

“Oh, I thought it was _a-parrot_ why, but I _geese_ not.”

He couldn’t stop himself from laughing now, turning back to Patton with bright eyes and a smile he kept trying to hide behind a hand. With him facing more Patton’s way now, he spied a nametag pinned by his collar. This ‘Virgil’ must have worked today.

“You still never answered how stuffed animals are like potato chips.” Virgil pointed out.

Patton grinned, picking up a dog plushie. “Because you can never have just one. I absolutely adore dog ones. But,” he reached over and picked up one of the little black cats Virgil had been eyeing, “cats hold a special place in my heart too, because I’m really allergic but still want to pet and hold them, you know?”

Virgil scuffed his boots against the tile floor. “You . . . actually collect them?”

“Yep! There’s just so many kinds, all of them waiting to find nice homes.”

Black brows furrowed. “But you’re like . . . what, twenty-four? Twenty-five?”

“Twenty-nine actually, but thanks for making me feel younger, kiddo.”

“Twenty-nine and collecting stuffed animals?” Virgil asked skeptically, eyes narrowed and arms crossed. “Isn’t that a little sad? Do you not have real friends?”

“On the contrary, a lot of my friends give me stuffed animals as gifts because they know I like them.”

Virgil looked down, visage stormy and brooding. Whatever he was mulling over in that dark head of his, Patton was content to wait it out as long as he needed. Virgil picked at the sleeve of his hoodie. A thread had come loose.

“You don’t think—” he began, but aborted whatever he’d been trying to say. He glanced up at Patton, as if worried about how he would look at him, but Patton’s face remained open and receptive.

“Think what, kiddo?”

“Dude, I am an adult.”

“Doesn’t mean you’re not someone’s kiddo,” Patton said, holding out the cat in offering. The hard edges of Virgil’s expression evened out as he stared at the cat. He unfolded his arms to hang loosely at his sides, not making a grab for the cat.

“Don’t you think you’re a little too old for stuffed animals?” Virgil asked, staying focused on the cat.

Patton smiled gently at him. “Virgil, look at me, bud.” Maybe it was because he used his name, but Virgil’s head snapped up, mouth hanging slightly open. “Do you think happiness has an age limit?”

“What kind of question is that?” Virgil asked stubbornly. Just as stubbornly, Patton waited. Virgil gave in. “Fine, no, not really.”

“Then you’re never too old.” Satisfied, Patton pushed the cat into Virgil’s chest. He stumbled to grab it so it wouldn’t fall as Patton pulled away. “Tell ya what. I’ll buy this dog one if you buy the cat. Whaddya say?”

“Who said I wanted to buy this?”

“You can either buy it yourself, or I’m going to buy it for you.”

“Are you threatening me with stuffed animals?”

“Only because I care.”

That day, Virgil finally got the black cat he’d been eyeing for the past week. Patton figured from all the staring that he’d wanted it, yet couldn’t bring himself to fully admit it. All he needed was a little _plush_ in the right direction.

**Author's Note:**

> One day I'll write about what's happening on the other side of the mall with Roman and Logan, but that is not today.


End file.
